It might surprise people to know even an MIS PhD runs into various computer issues, seemingly on a daily basis. For example, I've often used a well-known software security product, and it seems to run into some issue, maybe up to a handful of times a year, where it runs into some technical issue that it can't self-correct, and the recommended "solution" is to deinstall and reinstall, often using a special utility to do so. For some odd reason, the last time I did so, some deinstall popup seemed to start up for weeks after an apparently successful reinstall (it had no issues updating). The pop-up didn't seem to do anything, but I was confused why it was happened and worried it might actually uninstall the functioning reinstall. Maybe it was an interim patch that finally corrected the problem, but I do recall trying multiple deinstall/reinstalls thinking maybe there was some corruption in the installation.
I own multiple USB devices (to avoid things like coffee spills, I usually use an external keyboard and mouse, I have a printer (cf. below discussion, a flash drive, and multiple external hard drives. I recently ran into issues in using one of the USB drives: it started crashing backups, and it seemed to imply files had corrupted, so I tried to rebuild the hard drive. but my robocopies kept breaking down (Microsoft's native directory syncing tool).
It dawned on me that I had swapped out the drive's USB cable to the right-side port to attach my printer's USB cable (I rarely use my printer often, located to the right of my notebook PC). I had in the interim attached it to a USB extender hub on a left-side port. It dawned on me that I was overloading the port with 2 hard drives attached and decided to swap back the USB connection to the right-side port. BINGO! This time robocopy worked as expected, with no breakdowns.
Now I'm going to cite my multifunctional printer here, mostly for reader convenience: I own an older Canon PIXMA MX452. This model includes both wireless and USB connection. I think I initially configured it for simpler USB connection (wireless was somewhat more complex, including a separate printer configuration). So why did I finally embrace a wireless setup? For one thing, as described earlier, I have limited USB slots. For another thing, as I've discussed before, I own 5 PC's (in addition to a Chromebook). I tried to install the printer drivers on my first backup PC, an older workhorse HP, and God knows for what reason it wouldn't install over a USB connection. The wireless printer setup was a fairly painless printer setup. A modest setup menu navigation, press your router button and voila. (I managed to do it without referencing documentation, which is positive for printer usability.) I was then able to navigate the wireless option for printer driver installation; I got a popup for my local wireless connection, and subsequent test print jobs worked as expected.
I then installed the wireless printer driver option on my 3 remaining backup printers; I think I had one sticky install I finally managed to work through. I finally tackled the wireless install on my workhorse printer this week, including deinstall/reboot. For some reason, it was not finding the printer on the network (my backup PC had no problem seeing the printer on the network), so it demanded to connect to the printer via USB cable. It showed my local network wireless, and the properties seemed correctly configured but it wasn't seeing the printer on the network.
After multiple installation attempts, I tried to reinstall my original USB connection, but for some reason, now it didn't seem to be able to find the printer via cable--almost the same problem I initially had with my primary backup PC. Long story short, I went back to the wireless connection install, and THIS TIME I got the wireless connection popup--and was able to complete and test the connection.
It's not clear what I did differently during the successful iteration. It's almost like your car doesn't turn over the first time you turn your key, but it finally does on a subsequent attempt. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I probably ran into some nuanced bug. But for a moment there, I was worried that I was unable to print from my workhorse PC and have to go to a backup PC to do printing.
An aside note which I may have referenced in passing.on an earlier post. I love Dropbox, but I'm not a premium subscriber. I had been using Dropbox to share certain files across my 5 PC's. At some point, Dropbox changed policies so the "free option" only allowed up to 3 (?) PC's to connect to one's account. That sucks. I can work around the problem by, say, using a flash drive with said files, and of course there are other services with GB's. of free storage.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Some Recent Usability Annoyances
Healthcare Payment Incidents
I've found myself in the odd situation of having to write checks recently for healthcare-related expenses, of all things. To show how infrequently I have written checks, I've moved 6 times since my last checks were printed. For some time, I've automated nearly all periodic expenses: rent, utilities, insurance, credit card, etc. It's more unusual to write a check. My WV landlady had no Internet portal and required checks; I usually end up writing checks for things like apartment security deposits, gifts to relatives, etc.
Paying My Hospital Doctor's Fee
My first issue dealt with my physician's fee (allocated as my responsibility from my health insurance provider). Incidentally, getting multiple invoices from the same visit is somewhat annoying. The main hospital charges process (whether against my credit card or checking account) completed as expected, but the physician's specified portal just ran into failures with misleading, incoherent error messages. Trying to reach portal tech support proved to be problematic and basically a sinkhole of my time. Finally, it was just easier to waste a stamp and a check to take care of the problem
My Initial COBRA Payment
The second one was more serious and eventually resulted in a health outpatient procedure being rescheduled (this story in part was initially discussed in my signature political blog (I have some specialty post formats, like a journal). I recently left my position (let's just say it involved some nasty office politics on the contractor side, beyond the scope of this post), and my employee insurance expired at the end of March (the diagnosis occurred weeks before I left the company). Basically I couldn't get my COBRA paperwork until then, and more importantly (and not really specified in the paperwork) the insurance company would refuse to verify coverage until they had advance payment in hand. My procedure was scheduled before mid-month.
So the hospital outpatient coordinator called to tell me that a routine insurance check showed my coverage had lapsed and they weren't about to do the surgery with the risk of not getting paid. I had maybe over the weekend at most to get this taken care of. I finally got in touch with the COBRA administrators in Wisconsin. No, they didn't have an Internet payment portal; no, they wouldn't accommodate a bank wire or any other method I could think of. I had to send a check from a delivery service, like $25 overnight Express mail. So initially after I sent the check expedited by the Post Office (and verified receipt by tracking number), they denied getting payment, then argued the check had an error on the second line (something I can't recall ever doing before; I thought I double-checked the check before mailing it). By that time I was screwed. A replacement check required another day I didn't have, and the hospital scrubbed the procedure.
I did have confirmed receipt by the original surgery date but too late. But even then it took 2-3 business days to resolve insurance status, because somehow the hospital still couldn't verify my insurance. For whatever reason, the insurance people had to send proof of health insurance to me, vs. the hospital directly (but I had to jump through hoops to download it), and even when I sent it to a supervisor point of contact at the hospital, the coordinator claimed she never got it.
Now I'm sure that there are worse horror stories than this, but I've been in other COBRA programs, e.g., 10 years ago, and didn't run into these kinds of issues. Of course, it wasn't a case where I had a procedure scheduled early in the COBRA period. The proof of insurance showed after the fact that I had coverage from the beginning of the month, including the original surgery date. I guess the hospital wasn't willing to take on the risk of my making a first premium payment.
Uber Payment Verification & Scheduling
I haven't ridden in an Uber since about 2016. I had run into a couple of issues in the North Charleston area, both involving return trips, the first involved a late flight from San Antonio, and the second was a return from the obligatory drug test from my new Arizona employer (my car was in the shop)
So in the context of my upcoming procedure described above, I won't be able to drive for a short period of time post-surgery. .Part of my concern in trying to use Uber in a distant Baltimore suburb was that credit card billing zip code had changed. Documentation from Uber pages didn't seem to dovetail with either my desktop or Android app. Trying to reenter the same credit card didn't work; I tried to delete and replace, but I didn't see a way to delete the credit card (vs. Uber help); again, I didn't see a dovetail with the documentation. Another source seemed to indicate maybe the app won't let you delete without adding another credit card. But, once again, with 2 cards; I didn't see any obvious way to select one of the cards and update/delete them.
A similar thing in terms of scheduling rides. What I experienced simply did not reflect what was documented.
[Postscript: part of this involved a round trip to downtown Baltimore over the weekend. So originally the Uber screen flashed "no drivers available" and my heart sank, but a couple of minute later it flashed a driver was maybe 10 minutes away. I was dreading the idea of someone picking up me up in congested Baltimore Saturday morning. It turned out to be the fastest pickup ever. It turns out he just dropped off somebody. I noticed his car wasn't moving on Uber; they had identified a green Toyota. And there was a parked green Toyota to my right with just a driver. I poked my head in the window and asked if he was looking for me; I could see my given name on his cellphone.]
VPN Issues
I use a VPN provider for obvious reasons. Among other things, I didn't want to expose my connections on insecure hot spots in airports and hotels But there are a couple of annoying issues I've noticed while my VPN software is running:- I found that my outgoing gmail emails from the Thunderbird client will fail.
- Multiple secure websites will notice your implicit usage (through VPN) of a different IP and will challenge your connection, e.g., by asking for a previously specified security question and/or a code sent to your email or smartphone. You may be asked if you use this computer frequently.
Some Application Annoyances
I have some 5 PC's and a Chromebook (3 of them were/are backup computers which had failed to start at some point). So basically I have multiple external drives with current backups and some thumb drives with portable applications, which would allow rapid transition/recoveryauk in the event of my workhorse computer fails.-Part of my strategy is making use of browser sync functionality. At some point several weeks back, I noticed some divergences; bookmarks and extensions were not carrying between my workhorse and most used backup computer (the old workhorse). I had tried checking setups which for a long time looked like:
At some point Chrome transitioned to a series of toggle switches via vertical ellipsis, settings, sync and Google services, manage sync; now my account was displaying a syncing status; what I discovered today was for some odd reason (which I don't recall doing), all the sync settings were turned OFF. Once I toggled them back on, I quickly saw the bookmarks sync across PC's and chromebook, and adjustments on my workhorse system quickly propagated across devices.
There are a couple of key annoyances with my Thunderbird client. (beyond the long launch time). One is these pop-ups that occasionally stubbornly refuse to close (and if you try, often causes Thunderbird to crash. Another pet peeve is I don't like the message preview option. I think this may be a default because they want to solicit donations on related space. So you often have to toggle off message pane via View/Layout/Message Pane (or F8). Occasionally you have to toggle the message pane on in order to toggle it off.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Thunderbird Events, Airlines and Usability
I have an upcoming trip to visit my Mom during the holiday season. Flights, of course, are ridiculously expensive, plus I had to juggle my work schedule. So I made my arrangements a few weeks back. It was a rather unusual round trip where I take different major airlines each direction.
Then a week or so back I went to make a parking reservation at Preflight Airport Parking at BWI, which I've been using probably since 1998. (I've also made trips out of Dulles and Reagan.) Only I couldn't find it. Ir was bizarre; a few Internet queries didn't solve the mystery. There is a hub website for Preflight, but BWI was conspicuously missing without explanation. So I made alternative arrangements. I asked a work colleague who lived here for years and thought it was ridiculous to make reservations anyway and preferred the public lots. Long story short, I noticed today when I did a Google search, there was a promotional ad for Bullseye Parking at the head of the listings, and when I drilled down, I saw a familiar list of promoted amenities (e.g., daily newspaper, bottled water, etc.) and the street address seemed familiar. I still don't know the specifics but it looks like this location got spun off or purchased from the national chain. I don't know how I didn't stumble across it earlier.
The reason I mention parking is because I recall having to give estimates offsetting my flight times for the parking vendor. So among other things, Google automatically put (at least my trip out of BWI) on my calendar, and I've integrated my Google Calendar with my Thunderbird email client. I suddenly realized that I was staring at a 6 AM flight out, and I thought it was more like mid-morning. My Google calendar had the right time, and I double-checked with the airline.
It was fairly clear for some reason Thunderbird was offsetting the time zone for the Pacific Coast, not that unusual for high-tech items like PC's. I didn't query clearly enough to see a solution for my problem. Long story short: if you go to Tools/Options, there's a Config Editor button on the lower right. (You'll see a draconian warning of changing things at your own risk, sort of like when I had Lasik done, they warned of a risk of blindness.) Do a search on zone; (calendar.timezone.local). I then modified Los_Angeles to New_York. I then bounced Thunderbird and now my events had the expected scheduled time.
Then I had a weird experience with American Airlines when I clicked on My Trips and seemed to pull up no flights. It then seemed like I had to query using my name and the record locator, a fairly Procrustean approach, purely for the convenience of its own system.
Then a week or so back I went to make a parking reservation at Preflight Airport Parking at BWI, which I've been using probably since 1998. (I've also made trips out of Dulles and Reagan.) Only I couldn't find it. Ir was bizarre; a few Internet queries didn't solve the mystery. There is a hub website for Preflight, but BWI was conspicuously missing without explanation. So I made alternative arrangements. I asked a work colleague who lived here for years and thought it was ridiculous to make reservations anyway and preferred the public lots. Long story short, I noticed today when I did a Google search, there was a promotional ad for Bullseye Parking at the head of the listings, and when I drilled down, I saw a familiar list of promoted amenities (e.g., daily newspaper, bottled water, etc.) and the street address seemed familiar. I still don't know the specifics but it looks like this location got spun off or purchased from the national chain. I don't know how I didn't stumble across it earlier.
The reason I mention parking is because I recall having to give estimates offsetting my flight times for the parking vendor. So among other things, Google automatically put (at least my trip out of BWI) on my calendar, and I've integrated my Google Calendar with my Thunderbird email client. I suddenly realized that I was staring at a 6 AM flight out, and I thought it was more like mid-morning. My Google calendar had the right time, and I double-checked with the airline.
It was fairly clear for some reason Thunderbird was offsetting the time zone for the Pacific Coast, not that unusual for high-tech items like PC's. I didn't query clearly enough to see a solution for my problem. Long story short: if you go to Tools/Options, there's a Config Editor button on the lower right. (You'll see a draconian warning of changing things at your own risk, sort of like when I had Lasik done, they warned of a risk of blindness.) Do a search on zone; (calendar.timezone.local). I then modified Los_Angeles to New_York. I then bounced Thunderbird and now my events had the expected scheduled time.
Then I had a weird experience with American Airlines when I clicked on My Trips and seemed to pull up no flights. It then seemed like I had to query using my name and the record locator, a fairly Procrustean approach, purely for the convenience of its own system.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Amazon and Simple Cases of Dubious Usability
I have to admit to a fondness for Amazon devices: I own 2 Echo Dots (the second one was a company Xmas gift last year), a Fire stick for my TV, and a Fire tablet. They are particularly useful in conjunction with Amazon's distinct Prime subscription, which includes, beyond its signature free 2-day shipping on many items, even below certain aggregate minimum purchase thresholds, free reading, video and music subscriptions: there are some limitations to the reading and music services, which can be alleviated by supplemental "unlimited" services. So the Fire stick opens up the option of playing Amazon content on my flat-screen TV; the Echo Dot gives me on demand access to literally thousands of songs, including most Beatles' hits. (I have a significant person music collection, but it's simply easier and more convenient to ask Alexa, Amazon's natural language interface, than to pull out my own CD's and play the track). Still I manage to hit on strange gaps not included with the basic service; Alexa will play a sample clip and plug the unlimited service, e.g., Derek and the Dominoes' classic "Layla" and Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man". Alexa itself is fairly remarkable in terms of recognition; it's rare for me to have to repeat myself. For example, I had a minor issue getting it to play the Bangles' classic "Eternal Flame".
This led to a couple of unexpected minor usability hassles, one involving the affiliated location of the devices and a recent change in my WIFI password.
The WIFI issue actually surfaced first, but let me discuss the location issue first. (It had been some time since I had used my devices, and I have other ways of getting information or music, like weather on my cellphone or playing Youtube videos. So I asked Alexa what the temperature was, and it said 60 degrees. OK--I knew that wasn't valid for north Maryland, so I asked Alexa about the location, and as I had suspected, Alexa thought I was in southwestern Arizona.
Now there were a number of reasons this bothered me or contradicted my expectations. For one thing I left Arizona nearly 18 months ago. I had changed my address with Amazon at that time, and Amazon had fulfilled numerous orders at my current address. I expected that Amazon would have synced/propagated my address to my devices. Second, Alexa didn't seem to have an ability to modify its own location. I could get the current temperature, but I would have to specify northern Maryland rather than rely on a default. Third, it would seem to me that Alexa could probably guesstimate my location from its own Internet connection.
I vaguely recall doing setups for my Echo Dot via my Fire tablet, which has the Alexa app. (I also downloaded the Alexa app on my cellphone and my PC over the weekend. To me, oddly enough, although consistent with going to Google Play on my cell for new apps, one must go to the Microsoft Store to pick up the PC app. It's odd in the sense I go to Amazon itself to install/update my other notebook utilities (e.g., Kindle and Amazon Music).) I quickly did a search which confirmed I needed to edit the location via settings for the device.
So you to Settings for the Alexa App and go to Device Settings. I then see a listing of my devices, along with network statuses. I notice for some odd reason my tablet shows a status of being offline, although I can see my home cable WIFI on at the top of my tablet. This is a long introduction just to explain there is not a central setting for my device locations, but one must drill down into each device and update its location (scan down to the general device settings). I find the light blue on blue background not as legible as white on blue, you have to touch each address line to edit and then touch save in the upper right corner when you're finished. (I then verified my changes by asking my Echo Dot Alexa for time, temperature, and location.)
Fixing the WIFI password wasn't similar in nature, and this inconsistency was very annoying. Now I also have a Google Chromecast device, which operates somewhat differently; whereas the Fire TV stick comes with a remote which you use to navigate Amazon's menu-driven interface, Google operates by letting you cast PC content onto your TV screen via a menu-drive connection in the Chrome browser (e.g., my licensed video content through Youtube). It would be nice if I could use just one device, but Google and Amazon are content competitors.
I remember being confused by the Chromecast process for modifying the WIFI settings. (This may be an easier process.) I muddled through the process, and it was almost as if Chromecast setup suddenly realized that my PC had an existing WIFI connection and could reuse its configuration.
Now I had come into the reset issue from having had to set up my 5 PC connections. You scan for available network, click on your WIFI network and you have to supply the password, which in my case is usually complex (with special characters) and a pain to manually type. There's usually a less painful way which is to click a button on the top of your cable router (which temporarily opens the device for new connections; my button blinks for several second). So I thought the process would be a similar extrapolation.
Most of the stuff I saw on the topic seemed to rely on doing it via the Alexa app on my Android cellphone. It seems like the app forces you to connect via an Amazon wireless network (WHY? Why can't I simply connect directly to my WIFI network?). The app tells me to be patient--it might take a couple of minutes for the network to be visible on my cellphone list of available networks--which NEVER happens. Another Internet search suggests that I move my cellphone close to my Echo Dot. I finally see the Amazon network. And then I run into a couple of problems with the cellphone app; one was a message to the effect that network connection was too weak for the app to connect (now what do I do?); the other was that Echo Dot Alexa told me it was now connected to my cellphone and to continue the setup, but it was like the app was frozen and wouldn't respond to my touches to continue; maybe it was working but sent no status message to the screen.
At some point, I gave up trying to use my cellphone app (and the PC app seemed to take forever to install from Microsoft Store), so I finally turned to the Alexa app on my Fire tablet, which I had originally used to configure the Echo Dot.. I somehow muddled through the process: I suddenly realized my home WIFI network was appearing on the Echo Dot device status. I'm not exactly sure what I did; it wasn't as if I got a picklist of networks or was asked to enter my WIFI password in the process.
From a usability standpoint; this is unacceptable, especially since Internet access is critical to device functionality. Alexa had absolutely nothing to say other than to constantly gripe that it couldn't connect to the Internet and to check the help section of the app help section. Yeah, right. I couldn't even find a simple explanation on the website on how to update a changed password on my devices other than this: "You can save your updated Wi-Fi passwords to Amazon by re-running any compatible device through its Wi-Fi setup process."
This led to a couple of unexpected minor usability hassles, one involving the affiliated location of the devices and a recent change in my WIFI password.
The WIFI issue actually surfaced first, but let me discuss the location issue first. (It had been some time since I had used my devices, and I have other ways of getting information or music, like weather on my cellphone or playing Youtube videos. So I asked Alexa what the temperature was, and it said 60 degrees. OK--I knew that wasn't valid for north Maryland, so I asked Alexa about the location, and as I had suspected, Alexa thought I was in southwestern Arizona.
Now there were a number of reasons this bothered me or contradicted my expectations. For one thing I left Arizona nearly 18 months ago. I had changed my address with Amazon at that time, and Amazon had fulfilled numerous orders at my current address. I expected that Amazon would have synced/propagated my address to my devices. Second, Alexa didn't seem to have an ability to modify its own location. I could get the current temperature, but I would have to specify northern Maryland rather than rely on a default. Third, it would seem to me that Alexa could probably guesstimate my location from its own Internet connection.
I vaguely recall doing setups for my Echo Dot via my Fire tablet, which has the Alexa app. (I also downloaded the Alexa app on my cellphone and my PC over the weekend. To me, oddly enough, although consistent with going to Google Play on my cell for new apps, one must go to the Microsoft Store to pick up the PC app. It's odd in the sense I go to Amazon itself to install/update my other notebook utilities (e.g., Kindle and Amazon Music).) I quickly did a search which confirmed I needed to edit the location via settings for the device.
So you to Settings for the Alexa App and go to Device Settings. I then see a listing of my devices, along with network statuses. I notice for some odd reason my tablet shows a status of being offline, although I can see my home cable WIFI on at the top of my tablet. This is a long introduction just to explain there is not a central setting for my device locations, but one must drill down into each device and update its location (scan down to the general device settings). I find the light blue on blue background not as legible as white on blue, you have to touch each address line to edit and then touch save in the upper right corner when you're finished. (I then verified my changes by asking my Echo Dot Alexa for time, temperature, and location.)
Fixing the WIFI password wasn't similar in nature, and this inconsistency was very annoying. Now I also have a Google Chromecast device, which operates somewhat differently; whereas the Fire TV stick comes with a remote which you use to navigate Amazon's menu-driven interface, Google operates by letting you cast PC content onto your TV screen via a menu-drive connection in the Chrome browser (e.g., my licensed video content through Youtube). It would be nice if I could use just one device, but Google and Amazon are content competitors.
I remember being confused by the Chromecast process for modifying the WIFI settings. (This may be an easier process.) I muddled through the process, and it was almost as if Chromecast setup suddenly realized that my PC had an existing WIFI connection and could reuse its configuration.
Now I had come into the reset issue from having had to set up my 5 PC connections. You scan for available network, click on your WIFI network and you have to supply the password, which in my case is usually complex (with special characters) and a pain to manually type. There's usually a less painful way which is to click a button on the top of your cable router (which temporarily opens the device for new connections; my button blinks for several second). So I thought the process would be a similar extrapolation.
Most of the stuff I saw on the topic seemed to rely on doing it via the Alexa app on my Android cellphone. It seems like the app forces you to connect via an Amazon wireless network (WHY? Why can't I simply connect directly to my WIFI network?). The app tells me to be patient--it might take a couple of minutes for the network to be visible on my cellphone list of available networks--which NEVER happens. Another Internet search suggests that I move my cellphone close to my Echo Dot. I finally see the Amazon network. And then I run into a couple of problems with the cellphone app; one was a message to the effect that network connection was too weak for the app to connect (now what do I do?); the other was that Echo Dot Alexa told me it was now connected to my cellphone and to continue the setup, but it was like the app was frozen and wouldn't respond to my touches to continue; maybe it was working but sent no status message to the screen.
At some point, I gave up trying to use my cellphone app (and the PC app seemed to take forever to install from Microsoft Store), so I finally turned to the Alexa app on my Fire tablet, which I had originally used to configure the Echo Dot.. I somehow muddled through the process: I suddenly realized my home WIFI network was appearing on the Echo Dot device status. I'm not exactly sure what I did; it wasn't as if I got a picklist of networks or was asked to enter my WIFI password in the process.
From a usability standpoint; this is unacceptable, especially since Internet access is critical to device functionality. Alexa had absolutely nothing to say other than to constantly gripe that it couldn't connect to the Internet and to check the help section of the app help section. Yeah, right. I couldn't even find a simple explanation on the website on how to update a changed password on my devices other than this: "You can save your updated Wi-Fi passwords to Amazon by re-running any compatible device through its Wi-Fi setup process."
Monday, November 12, 2018
Microsoft HUP: A Great but Sometimes Frustrating Deal
Microsoft has a great deal for employees of many corporate customers: its Home Use Program. I stumbled upon this option a few years back as a government contractor. For a nominal fee (say, $15 a product, the products being Office Professional, Project and/or Visio. You may need to initiate the transaction through your work email account.) There are certain licensing restrictions, one being that if you leave your job, you need to deinstall your programs.
(That may explain why after I changed government contractor positions, my software "disappeared". They may have thought I needed to obtain a new license, even though the end client was the same. It's not so much paying an extra $15 for a new license but the deinstallation without notice. I'm used to subscription software, e.g., security, warning me of an upcoming expiration date.
It reminds me of a condo in Normal, IL I had rented while a visiting professor at ISU. What I wasn't aware of was that I was expected to pay the water bill. The owner never forwarded the utility bills, and the water company never mailed or left a warning notice for the occupant. So I had worked out before going to the university to lecture, went to take a shower--and found my water had been cut off. I soon traced down the miscommunication; it still bothers me how the water company would go to the point of shutting off the water without a good faith attempt to contact the occupant; I had no way of knowing the owner was trashing the notices. I had intended to rent an apartment, but a colleague's wife was a broker who was managing the property for the absentee owner.)
But the issues I've encountered have less to do with registration or activation and more to do with usability. The HUP software download has a download link default for a 32-bit install. There's a subordinated 64-bit link. I tried to install the 64-bit version; long story short, I get a message that the software is installed; go to the Start Menu. And--I see no program icons. I don't see a listed application in Window programs. Are there known issues with the 64-bit version? Nothing I can tell from an Internet search. I decide to try the 32-bit version; as the default install, it should be more bullet-proof. Only to find out that it refuses to do the install, because it thinks the (inferred: 64-bit) software is already installed.
So how do I uninstall an application which isn't even listed? I did ;more Internet searching and eventually run across an Activation Troubleshooter. It's a bit dated (I don't see reference to a newer one), but after it's run, I finally see the new (and old) HUP Office products showing up in Windows Programs. I deinstall the old HUP Offie. I try to repair the HUP 64-bit Office, but that turns out to be a waste of time, so I deinstall it, too.
I then try to install the 32-bit version. This time I get program icons in the start menu.
Activation is somewhat obscure because Microsoft by default wants you to register via a Microsoft (live.com). You launch one of the new Office icons. and it should launch an activation screen. You have to look for a bypass link at the bottom of the pop-up (and maybe another bypass link on the bottom of the next screen) before you get to a license input screen. How do you know that the product has been activated? One sign is you'll see Microsoft screen unlock a number of templates, etc. on the spartan application screen. A second is once you open up, say, a blank document. Go to the left/top File menu and click on Account (near the bottom).
(They do discuss the bypass approach but in an obscure way. I was initially expecting it to surface during, not after the install process.)
I ran into a different issue during installation of another product, Visio. To understand the context, when you launch the product install, you get an Office install progress icon in your system tray, e.g., 3% complete. During the Visio install, this icon disappeared. I used the everything search tool to verify lots of Visio files got installed--but not the executable, e.g., visio.exe. I eventually get to a Microsoft/contractor install agent online and start peppering her for manual deinstall processes (including any registry fixes), and the only thing she wants to do is to pass me off to another group: Commercial. (This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who has ever dealt with a help desk.) Literally right at the end of the chat session, I suddenly see the Office install progress icon reappear in my system tray. This time it persists through the remainder of the install. The point is I had almost prematurely deinstalled the product, thinking it had aborted.
(That may explain why after I changed government contractor positions, my software "disappeared". They may have thought I needed to obtain a new license, even though the end client was the same. It's not so much paying an extra $15 for a new license but the deinstallation without notice. I'm used to subscription software, e.g., security, warning me of an upcoming expiration date.
It reminds me of a condo in Normal, IL I had rented while a visiting professor at ISU. What I wasn't aware of was that I was expected to pay the water bill. The owner never forwarded the utility bills, and the water company never mailed or left a warning notice for the occupant. So I had worked out before going to the university to lecture, went to take a shower--and found my water had been cut off. I soon traced down the miscommunication; it still bothers me how the water company would go to the point of shutting off the water without a good faith attempt to contact the occupant; I had no way of knowing the owner was trashing the notices. I had intended to rent an apartment, but a colleague's wife was a broker who was managing the property for the absentee owner.)
But the issues I've encountered have less to do with registration or activation and more to do with usability. The HUP software download has a download link default for a 32-bit install. There's a subordinated 64-bit link. I tried to install the 64-bit version; long story short, I get a message that the software is installed; go to the Start Menu. And--I see no program icons. I don't see a listed application in Window programs. Are there known issues with the 64-bit version? Nothing I can tell from an Internet search. I decide to try the 32-bit version; as the default install, it should be more bullet-proof. Only to find out that it refuses to do the install, because it thinks the (inferred: 64-bit) software is already installed.
So how do I uninstall an application which isn't even listed? I did ;more Internet searching and eventually run across an Activation Troubleshooter. It's a bit dated (I don't see reference to a newer one), but after it's run, I finally see the new (and old) HUP Office products showing up in Windows Programs. I deinstall the old HUP Offie. I try to repair the HUP 64-bit Office, but that turns out to be a waste of time, so I deinstall it, too.
I then try to install the 32-bit version. This time I get program icons in the start menu.
Activation is somewhat obscure because Microsoft by default wants you to register via a Microsoft (live.com). You launch one of the new Office icons. and it should launch an activation screen. You have to look for a bypass link at the bottom of the pop-up (and maybe another bypass link on the bottom of the next screen) before you get to a license input screen. How do you know that the product has been activated? One sign is you'll see Microsoft screen unlock a number of templates, etc. on the spartan application screen. A second is once you open up, say, a blank document. Go to the left/top File menu and click on Account (near the bottom).
(They do discuss the bypass approach but in an obscure way. I was initially expecting it to surface during, not after the install process.)
I ran into a different issue during installation of another product, Visio. To understand the context, when you launch the product install, you get an Office install progress icon in your system tray, e.g., 3% complete. During the Visio install, this icon disappeared. I used the everything search tool to verify lots of Visio files got installed--but not the executable, e.g., visio.exe. I eventually get to a Microsoft/contractor install agent online and start peppering her for manual deinstall processes (including any registry fixes), and the only thing she wants to do is to pass me off to another group: Commercial. (This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who has ever dealt with a help desk.) Literally right at the end of the chat session, I suddenly see the Office install progress icon reappear in my system tray. This time it persists through the remainder of the install. The point is I had almost prematurely deinstalled the product, thinking it had aborted.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
A New Garmin, Other Annoyances and Some Notes on Learnability
Well, if you've read my last few posts, you'll know that I ran into a series of Windows Update issues over the late spring through the early summer, requiring use of the media creation tool to deploy almost every new major Windows 10 patch. For uncertain reasons, this pattern seems to have been corrected over the past 2 months. There have been a couple of failures along the way but they seemed to be corrected without my intervention. However, I have run into a couple of usability issues: for some reason, I'm getting multiple activation alerts a week; the problem is always resolved by checking my digital license, but it's certain annoying, and what makes it even more so is that it seems to take forever to get the activation troubleshooter launched.
I've written multiple posts about my Garmin device. I've had some issues over the years (I've gotten lost in West Virginia just going to the local post office and turning in my cable box: I mean, somehow I ended up on one-lane dirt roads in totally unfamiliar territory). But it worked admirably in my folks' home town of Fall River, MA, which I've only visited (not driving) maybe 4 times since middle school, for my priest uncle's funeral several weeks back. I remember my Mom was hosting a luncheon at an unfamiliar (to me) restaurant after a post-funeral mass stop at the church ceremony. In a straight line, the restaurant wasn't that far away but because of one-way roads, etc., it was the weirdest roundabout drive I've ever been on. Innumerable turns. I thought I was on another West Virginia adventure. But it got me there ahead of multiple siblings in different cars.
However, I haven't seen the device since returning home. It's not in the car, and I haven't found it in my apartment where I usually keep it. I don't know if it slipped out of my pocket on the way from my car, if I misplaced it in the apartment. But I decided to buy a more recent replacement.
I initially had bought my first unit at a factory outlet, and I decided to add to go there first. This turns out to be one of those vendors (including the USPS) who for some reason have some issue with my credit card issuer. This didn't appear at first. I got a receipt/invoice not listing my apartment number. Among other things, I don't post my name on my mailbox or apartment, so I don't know what happens if an unfamiliar delivery driver arrives at my apartment building. (This sort of thing never happens when I buy via Amazon.) The conversation (with an Indian help center person, of course) goes something like the following:
(me): I put my apartment number in my original order form submission.
(he): I know that. But our address validator won't accept that address.
(me): I live here. The post office delivers to that address. I've bought from several other vendors who have no issues with that address. There's obviously something wrong with your address validator.
He's in a state of denial. It's not a case where my card issuer is rejecting the transaction. I know because my issuer never sent a fraud alert, and I saw the pending transaction. So I know if they submitted my address information, it wasn't rejected by my card issuer. So this must be some other validator issue, and I have no idea why they won't accept my address if my card issuer does. (No, it's not a P.O. Box.) Maybe it comes from their delivery partners. But I can't believe that I've having to argue I live in an apartment building, and they need to reference my apartment number.
(him) Oh, by the way, the item you ordered is out of stock. We do have a similar model in stock which simply adds Canada to your lifetime maps subscription, for $5 more.
(me, thinking to myself.) WTF. The site never mentioned it was out of stock/on back order. I don't need Canadian maps. I have no intention of ever visiting my ancestral homeland (Quebec). But is it really worth my time and effort to haggle $5 when a new vs. refurbished model at Sam's Club is double the cost? (I checked on my last trip there recently.)
(me). Fine. Will you email a receipt and a cancellation of my earlier purchase.
By the next day: no interim confirmation as promised. Instead, I've gotten a "fraud alert" telling me my outlet purchase was cancelled, and I should once again call their number to discuss the matter. Hell, no! I basically had a replacement purchase in my cart at Amazon. And, of course, now I'm getting email-spammed from the factory outlet. There is ZERO chance of a future purchase. I've unsubscribed, and if it resumes, I'll filter it at Google.
I got the device from Amazon a couple of days later, charged it up and had the typically large map update loaded. (The first thing I had noticed was the power button, which was on the top left edge of my original unit, was a shallow button on the back of the device.) There was little documentation enclosed with the device, simply a Garmin URL. I then run into an issue finding the manual because my packaging identifies the product version as "5-I"(sans-serifs), instead of "5-1".
The issue was a subsequent update, probably firmware-related after the maps update was done. So I downloaded it, and there was a patch process described something like the following:
"The patch application will require powering your device off and on.
[Now comes a description of using Garmin Express to download and install the patch. Then, and this is the core point of my criticism]:
- Disconnect the USB cord from the Garmin device connector for 5 seconds and reattach it.
It then connects back to Garmin Express which shows me there is one more patch to apply. I do this a couple of cycles before I realize it's trying to download the same patch. Now I'm wondering if I have a defective unit that's not processing patches. It's not telling me something to the effect that the patch has already been installed, but I need to restart my device to finish the installation.
Now maybe it's because of my professional IT experience of having to reboot servers after major installations or upgrades/patches (including Windows) or even having my Android smartphone restarted after Android patching that I decided to manually power off-on my Garmin. And I almost immediately saw messages that it was applying firmware/other patches. I subsequently reconnected my Garmin, and Garmin Express reported after reconnection that the device was up to date.
I have little doubt that the documenters would defensively point out the instructions did talk about the need to restart the device. But the context was unfamiliar. There is no discussion after Garmin Express installs the software instructions to the effect "after finishing the update, disconnect the device, restart it and after it finishes, reconnect the device." This whole discussion of waiting 5 seconds to reconnect the Garmin was rather misleading and confusing.
I've written multiple posts about my Garmin device. I've had some issues over the years (I've gotten lost in West Virginia just going to the local post office and turning in my cable box: I mean, somehow I ended up on one-lane dirt roads in totally unfamiliar territory). But it worked admirably in my folks' home town of Fall River, MA, which I've only visited (not driving) maybe 4 times since middle school, for my priest uncle's funeral several weeks back. I remember my Mom was hosting a luncheon at an unfamiliar (to me) restaurant after a post-funeral mass stop at the church ceremony. In a straight line, the restaurant wasn't that far away but because of one-way roads, etc., it was the weirdest roundabout drive I've ever been on. Innumerable turns. I thought I was on another West Virginia adventure. But it got me there ahead of multiple siblings in different cars.
However, I haven't seen the device since returning home. It's not in the car, and I haven't found it in my apartment where I usually keep it. I don't know if it slipped out of my pocket on the way from my car, if I misplaced it in the apartment. But I decided to buy a more recent replacement.
I initially had bought my first unit at a factory outlet, and I decided to add to go there first. This turns out to be one of those vendors (including the USPS) who for some reason have some issue with my credit card issuer. This didn't appear at first. I got a receipt/invoice not listing my apartment number. Among other things, I don't post my name on my mailbox or apartment, so I don't know what happens if an unfamiliar delivery driver arrives at my apartment building. (This sort of thing never happens when I buy via Amazon.) The conversation (with an Indian help center person, of course) goes something like the following:
(me): I put my apartment number in my original order form submission.
(he): I know that. But our address validator won't accept that address.
(me): I live here. The post office delivers to that address. I've bought from several other vendors who have no issues with that address. There's obviously something wrong with your address validator.
He's in a state of denial. It's not a case where my card issuer is rejecting the transaction. I know because my issuer never sent a fraud alert, and I saw the pending transaction. So I know if they submitted my address information, it wasn't rejected by my card issuer. So this must be some other validator issue, and I have no idea why they won't accept my address if my card issuer does. (No, it's not a P.O. Box.) Maybe it comes from their delivery partners. But I can't believe that I've having to argue I live in an apartment building, and they need to reference my apartment number.
(him) Oh, by the way, the item you ordered is out of stock. We do have a similar model in stock which simply adds Canada to your lifetime maps subscription, for $5 more.
(me, thinking to myself.) WTF. The site never mentioned it was out of stock/on back order. I don't need Canadian maps. I have no intention of ever visiting my ancestral homeland (Quebec). But is it really worth my time and effort to haggle $5 when a new vs. refurbished model at Sam's Club is double the cost? (I checked on my last trip there recently.)
(me). Fine. Will you email a receipt and a cancellation of my earlier purchase.
By the next day: no interim confirmation as promised. Instead, I've gotten a "fraud alert" telling me my outlet purchase was cancelled, and I should once again call their number to discuss the matter. Hell, no! I basically had a replacement purchase in my cart at Amazon. And, of course, now I'm getting email-spammed from the factory outlet. There is ZERO chance of a future purchase. I've unsubscribed, and if it resumes, I'll filter it at Google.
I got the device from Amazon a couple of days later, charged it up and had the typically large map update loaded. (The first thing I had noticed was the power button, which was on the top left edge of my original unit, was a shallow button on the back of the device.) There was little documentation enclosed with the device, simply a Garmin URL. I then run into an issue finding the manual because my packaging identifies the product version as "5-I"(sans-serifs), instead of "5-1".
The issue was a subsequent update, probably firmware-related after the maps update was done. So I downloaded it, and there was a patch process described something like the following:
"The patch application will require powering your device off and on.
[Now comes a description of using Garmin Express to download and install the patch. Then, and this is the core point of my criticism]:
- Disconnect the USB cord from the Garmin device connector for 5 seconds and reattach it.
It then connects back to Garmin Express which shows me there is one more patch to apply. I do this a couple of cycles before I realize it's trying to download the same patch. Now I'm wondering if I have a defective unit that's not processing patches. It's not telling me something to the effect that the patch has already been installed, but I need to restart my device to finish the installation.
Now maybe it's because of my professional IT experience of having to reboot servers after major installations or upgrades/patches (including Windows) or even having my Android smartphone restarted after Android patching that I decided to manually power off-on my Garmin. And I almost immediately saw messages that it was applying firmware/other patches. I subsequently reconnected my Garmin, and Garmin Express reported after reconnection that the device was up to date.
I have little doubt that the documenters would defensively point out the instructions did talk about the need to restart the device. But the context was unfamiliar. There is no discussion after Garmin Express installs the software instructions to the effect "after finishing the update, disconnect the device, restart it and after it finishes, reconnect the device." This whole discussion of waiting 5 seconds to reconnect the Garmin was rather misleading and confusing.
Monday, September 3, 2018
The Absent-Minded Professor
After a recent drive to attend a relative's funeral in another state, I misplaced my Garmin, no doubt leaving it somewhere "safe" again. (I've sometimes had variations on this theme. I also have also misplaced its UBS charge cable, which meant one time I went to use the Garmin, I found it was dead, needing a recharge. So I ordered a much longer third-party supplier replacement cable from Amazon. You win if you guess while I was waiting for the new cable to arrive, I stumbled across the original.) I can and have used Google Maps, but a first use, homeward bound after a vehicle emissions test (long story: I thought I could get it done at another facility and then was directed to a local highway split (and follow a maze of one-way street signs to the facility). My cellphone went silent as, in fact, I drove in the wrong direction.)
An even more telling example was that I had bought a nice wall-pluggable power storage device for USB devices, good enough for multiple charges of my cellphone. It wasn't that expensive, maybe something like $30-50, but expensive enough I didn't want to lose it. I was living in temporary housing at a local hotel waiting for my household goods from SC to arrive at my new residence in Arizona. I remember having it out on the room desk before I checked out. Later, in my new apartment, I searched the pockets of my notebook bag and couldn't find it. I checked back with the hotel, and it turned out I did leave a device behind but it was an older, less capacity, cheaper unit. I began wondering if maybe the maid had stolen it; I never made that claim, but I couldn't explain how the device had disappeared.
In the meanwhile, I bought new storage devices, particularly after a long power outage in Maryland a few months back. So fast forward to a few days back. I own 3 notebook computers as well as a desktop--and, of course, a few notebook bags. I was searching for where I had misplaced the Garmin when I suddenly realized the internal calculator slot in one of the cases wasn't empty--and I know I didn't have a calculator. You guessed it: the missing power bank.
For some reason, Windows Update is choking on every monthly or so cumulative update, and it seems I must have had to resort to Windows Activation troubleshooter at least a dozen times this summer as Windows seems to think my notebook doesn't have a valid license. Not sure what the issue is beyond likely buggy, crappy Windows code. I keep my security software updates, constant scans, etc.
One runs into novel issues all the time. I have a combination printer/flatbed scanner. I had just scanned something to a pdf file recently but when I had to send a fax overnight, I ran into a software issue telling me the printer wasn't on or the USB cable was disconnected (neither true); I tested printer functionality: no problem.
The only thing I could think of was maybe I needed to update my printer driver software and quickly went to the printer vendor website. They had updated the driver earlier this year. And yes, its application resolved my scanner problem.
An even more telling example was that I had bought a nice wall-pluggable power storage device for USB devices, good enough for multiple charges of my cellphone. It wasn't that expensive, maybe something like $30-50, but expensive enough I didn't want to lose it. I was living in temporary housing at a local hotel waiting for my household goods from SC to arrive at my new residence in Arizona. I remember having it out on the room desk before I checked out. Later, in my new apartment, I searched the pockets of my notebook bag and couldn't find it. I checked back with the hotel, and it turned out I did leave a device behind but it was an older, less capacity, cheaper unit. I began wondering if maybe the maid had stolen it; I never made that claim, but I couldn't explain how the device had disappeared.
In the meanwhile, I bought new storage devices, particularly after a long power outage in Maryland a few months back. So fast forward to a few days back. I own 3 notebook computers as well as a desktop--and, of course, a few notebook bags. I was searching for where I had misplaced the Garmin when I suddenly realized the internal calculator slot in one of the cases wasn't empty--and I know I didn't have a calculator. You guessed it: the missing power bank.
For some reason, Windows Update is choking on every monthly or so cumulative update, and it seems I must have had to resort to Windows Activation troubleshooter at least a dozen times this summer as Windows seems to think my notebook doesn't have a valid license. Not sure what the issue is beyond likely buggy, crappy Windows code. I keep my security software updates, constant scans, etc.
One runs into novel issues all the time. I have a combination printer/flatbed scanner. I had just scanned something to a pdf file recently but when I had to send a fax overnight, I ran into a software issue telling me the printer wasn't on or the USB cable was disconnected (neither true); I tested printer functionality: no problem.
The only thing I could think of was maybe I needed to update my printer driver software and quickly went to the printer vendor website. They had updated the driver earlier this year. And yes, its application resolved my scanner problem.
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